Musings on my job search journey

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Kicking Myself

A couple of days ago, I had a surprising phone call. This was for a position I was quite interested in, and I had even gotten some good information from a very helpful and kind insider, who seemed to think I was fairly well qualified for the position.

I was surprised because I had recently gotten a form “thanks for applying but we’re not interested” email from HR, and my internal contact had told me that the hiring manager had not responded to the email she had sent with my resume and an endorsement. So I’d given up hope on this particular opportunity.

Naturally, when the interviewer called, I was not prepared, having mentally and physically put the job description in the inactive pile. (The form email was apparently sent by mistake.) I wish I had followed the advice I’d been given many years ago by an outplacement coach to never take a phone call unprepared, but to say you’re headed out the door and ask to arrange another time to talk. Instead, in my eagerness to discuss this job I said the time was fine. I don’t think the interview was completely awful, but I think I fell short in discussing recent industry developments, something I would have been able to do with at least a few hours of advance notice.